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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29097663">sais e minerais, evaporar</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orchestra/pseuds/orchestra'>orchestra</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SEVENTEEN (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(and more tags to come), Alternate Universe - Mid-Twenties, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Character Study, Food as a Metaphor for Love, M/M, Tenderness, anecdotal, brief implications of sex, the multimodal multiplicity of love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:02:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,456</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29097663</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orchestra/pseuds/orchestra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>seokmin beckons, and minghao places them lightly in the outstretched hand. seokmin looks like he’s about to spit on a napkin, but second guesses that, and instead dips a corner into his tea, and wipes the lenses with diligence, reverence. minghao sees it all with clarity: seokmin’s tongue poking out in focus; the steam of tea softening the frizzy curls of seokmin’s bedhead; that his phở is magically sans-sprout and cilantro sprigs, and that there are still the two immaculate wedges of lime on the small white plastic plate, waiting for him, two tart small smiles.<br/>--<br/>you and i, how are we ever to know? well—we'll try. we must! the questions, the assumptions, the deliberations and solutions, of and to the commonplace and conspicuous conundrums of our twenties.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Seokmin | DK/Xu Ming Hao | The8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>sais e minerais, evaporar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>and after a miserable attempt at a batch of pâte à choux (i have lost my touch! absolutely! how miserable!) i finally sit down to post this piece. i dont mean to make this some like silly insightful intro. i think most who kno me kno that i am incredibly near- and short-sighted<br/>so hey, here's sebteen as first/second-gen asian americans (whatever the fuck that even means; if u find out, let me kno, cuz im Struggling!) learning, ykno, life lessons, and life sadnesses, and life joys. maybe not always in that order. heck! there will be parallels! cuz u kno for sure i cannot resist jigyu and gyuhao and jigyuhao and seokgyuhaohan. ykwis? (please look forward to seokgyuhaohan)</p><p>hey! that was long. i think my pastry has cooled, so im gonna go scoop my crème pât onto these flat saucers and enjoy each lil bite<br/>and i hope u may enjoy this journey w me too!</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWXTisH11-Y">please enjoy</a> this song i was listening to on the sidewalk this afternoon</p><p> </p><p>🎏</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>by the time minghao gets back to the table, his tea has already become lukewarm in the palm of his hand. but that’s good, because he proceeds to jump and spill half of it onto his fingers when he locks eyes with seokmin, who snaps his head up so fast from his bowl, a mung bean tail goes flying out from between his lips and lands on minghao’s sweater. seokmin’s cheeks are moving so busily, adding a little bumpy texture to the needly note of satisfaction sung through his nose. minghao can’t stop laughing out loud, shoulders jostling, and the man wrapping the chopsticks at the table behind them gives them a look. </p><p>“babe,” minghao’s still giggling as the crispy crunching increases in velocity and intensity, “this isn’t <em> the layover </em>. slow down.”</p><p>seokmin’s eyes crescent, and then he chokes on an errant sprout. “love when you call me babe,” is what he says after a swig of minghao’s tea. minghao’s hands color. what that mouth can do.</p><p>“also, you gotta like,” seokmin smacks as he pinches another big bunch of bean with the lime green chopsticks and drops them into his bowl, “get at ‘em quick. can’t let them wilt too much.” </p><p>minghao makes a noise, uh huh?, through his lips stuck in a smile. and also maybe in some tacky drool that he hasn’t washed off yet. they’d just gotten off the morning amtrak which they just <em> had </em> to take, apparently, because mingyu needed them <em> now </em> to help prepare for some soirée happening in three days. (minghao’s just kidding; it’s not <em> some </em> soirée—it’s literally mingyu’s and jihoon’s engagement party. which is being held in the city, so why in the world are they meeting up in philly anyway? hm. something about it makes minghao’s stomach flip. watching the dawn break through the foggy train window, with his head knocking gently against seokmin’s shoulder, hands loosely locked together between them, made all of this feel terribly...real?) minghao’s eyes transfix on the tip of seokmin’s nose that is dangerously close to dipping into the broth. he leans over the glass table, and runs his two hands through seokmin’s hair softly, to tuck the loose strands behind his ears. </p><p>seokmin slurps in the rest of the noodles hanging from his chopsticks, then presses his (damp) nose to the inside of minghao’s wrist. giggling, minghao leans back into his chair, and licks off the drop of broth with the tip of his tongue. mm, he hums. seokmin’s eyes are on him, in a way that fills minghao with warmth in a way no soup ever could. </p><p>and it sloshes about in the pit of minghao’s stomach, as seokmin gently lowers his eyes, and props his chin on his free hand. he’s smiling in his eyes, but he regards minghao, with something that feels a little bit like a warning, and minghao wonders, what—what, did they leave the car running? he wants to suggest they check, but then quickly rethinks that because god forbid seokmin think he’s insinuating something here.</p><p>(for context: minghao had driven them here in a teeny tiny rental, and thanks to the very enthusiastic and exuberant cheering of his boyfriend, had managed to squeeze them between two produce trucks in the middle of the strip mall parking lot, in one smooth swerve. all because this was the closest spot to the restaurant, and his darling boyfriend had to piss so bad, and he’s faaairly certain fluid stains of any level of intimacy wouldn’t be covered by his rental insurance. anyway.</p><p>“that was so hot,” seokmin stammered as he tugged at the seatbelt that somehow ended up around his neck, “i wanna suck you off so bad right now.”</p><p>oh my god, minghao pinched, literally what did i just say about bodily fluids. and then he laughed, a bit pained, because actually that’d be so nice right now. “after we eat.”</p><p>a beat later, seokmin had mumbled, you won’t mind my cilantro mouth? and minghao had slid with a snap of the sun visor, well, it’ll be on my cock, so what’s it matter? and seokmin, as he bustled out the passenger seat with his cardigan hanging off his shoulder, loudly wondered, oh yeah, and you’re a weirdo who likes the taste of his own come, huh? before cackling and dashing into the restaurant, leaving minghao, well, horny, and also, well, happy.)</p><p>seokmin cocks his head, and smiles. </p><p>minghao jabs his thumb at a portraiture of a royal highness watching over them during their meal, and mouths silently, not now. seokmin lets his mouth drop open in an oh, then folds his hands together in reverence, amen, before his lips raise into a smile, and he makes a subtle, slow jerking motion of a fist.</p><p>oh <em> goodness </em> , minghao flashes back with a sharp jump of his eyebrows, this is a <em> family </em>establishment, for goodness sake! literally. the grandmother whose blessed hands stirred the broth and plucked the húng quế leaves is busily surfing the channels on the corner television, as her grandson pouts about on her lap, asking bà, bà, sing me a song. she hums something noncommittal yet warm, before her daughter scoops him into her arms, and gives him some tea cups to stack on the placemats for the small group that bustle through the chiming door.</p><p>minghao, now acutely aware of the growing clamor of a wednesday morning around them, only feels mildly embarrassed with the way seokmin is looking at him with such heavy adoration in his eyes. he blushes, and means to kick seokmin in the shin under the ruffly tablecloth, but instead, they brush ankles. seokmin laughs into the aforementioned fist, and then leans over and ruffles minghao’s hair wildly, until minghao is feeling a little lightheaded and disoriented from the sparks going off in his ears.</p><p>when he comes to, seokmin’s gaze is still on him, and so seokmin misses, and pokes himself in the cheek with his hoisin-dipped chopsticks. this idiot, minghao laughs. seokmin scrunches his nose, whispers, my favorite sound in the whole wide world, and minghao wants to stick his whole face into his bowl. can he not?</p><p>뿔면 맛 업쪄, seokmin pouts with a soft bap on minghao’s head, 언능 먹어! </p><p>minghao waves a hand and promptly tucks it into his parka pocket, while the other taps his chopsticks to the table. personally, he doesn’t mind a little sog. he sighs, and puts a piece of brisket in his mouth. he makes a small noise, and seokmin amplifies his approval with a hum of his own. the uncle clears his throat, and minghao can see behind seokmin’s dancing shoulders, the man also seemingly fond of seokmin’s theatrics. literally who isn’t, huh? </p><p>his chopsticks hover. well, that’s a silly thing to suddenly feel self-conscious about, isn’t it. his glasses begin to fog up again. seokmin beckons, and minghao places them lightly in the outstretched hand. seokmin looks like he’s about to spit on a napkin, but second guesses that, and instead dips a corner into his tea, and wipes the lenses with diligence, reverence. minghao sees it all with clarity: seokmin’s tongue poking out in focus; the steam of tea softening the frizzy curls of seokmin’s bedhead; that his phở is magically sans-sprout and cilantro sprigs, and that there are still the two immaculate wedges of lime on the small white plastic plate, waiting for him, two tart small smiles. </p><p>seokmin perches the glasses, spick-and-span, atop minghao’s nose. he looks up at seokmin. seokmin’s started to glance around the restaurant, mulling with a full mouth, that thing he does when he’s half-way through his meal so minghao can catch up. he watches as seokmin makes eye contact with a little girl who’s nearly eye-level with him from her baby chair a few tables away. she giggles and waves at him with her tiny hands, tightly clutching a white spoon, the other a few rice noodles. seokmin mimics her, with some sprouts instead. she smooshes the noodles into a chubby cheek; seokmin does the same. their laughs ring through the restaurant, and the auntie at the register, bouncing her son in her lap, looks up with a snap of her gum and smiles fondly.</p><p>seokmin looks to him then, as radiant as the morning rays glinting off the rim of his teacup, like the sunrise on the train ride, except this one’s much warmer on minghao’s cheeks, much closer, much more beautiful, shining through the crystal clear windows of seokmin’s gentle, gentle soul, as he says: you always choose the best places, and minghao realizes, truly, that you eat with your heart first,<br/>
<br/>
and he feels so full of love; </p><p>he’ll never know hunger again.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>and as always, hey<br/>if you made it here<br/>wow, look at you go:<br/>one step further along<br/>this great grand<br/>journey of life</p><p> </p><p>thank u so much for letting me be a part of ur adventure.<br/>stay warm!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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